Halo: Combat Evolved for the PC
But Puddle, you ask, why is this a special? Isn’t Halo on the last generation of consoles? Well, the PC version can’t exactly be qualified as Last Generation. Because, for as long as I can tell, it’s still the same old computers.
So then, now that I cleared that up, let’s dig in to it then!
You play as the Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, One of the few remaining soldiers of the Spartan-II project. The main idea for this character was a Clint Eastwood like personality, but since he almost never talks and because the actor was allowed to do his own thing, you can pretty much give the Chief the personality you want him to have. You could literally become the Chief in a way. Which is why he remains masked throughout the games.
The chief is a great character that knows how to fight and kick ass. He never fails, he never surrenders. That … is the Master Chief!
We start the game at the Pillar of Autumn’s final destination. Being chased by the Covenant, Captain Keyes and his crew had made a blind jump in to space. However, because of the Covenant’s superior ships, they managed to get their before them. Keyes ordered the awakening of the Master Chief. And that is how we begin this game.
Throughout the game we get to know the different characters very well. Like the Pillar’s female A.I. known as Cortana, Avery Johnson and more.
Opposing the Master Chief is the Covenant, who are a wild group of enemies, let me tell you that. Let’s give you a brief rundown on them.
First up we have the elites. These guys are really nasty. Firstly, they have rechargeable shields like the Master Chief does. Secondly, they got really strong arms! When they hit you, you’d better run for the hills because your own energy shield will be down. So you need to stay at a distance and first put down their shield and then gun them down as soon as possible.
Then we have the Jackals. They have regular shields attached to their arm. Nothing can get past these shields, not even grenades. So, you either need to throw a grenade to their sides or to their back, or you need to aim to the knish in the shield through which you can hit them. Or … you know … you can just run them over with a Warthog.
The last covenant I wanna talk about are the grunts. These are the only Covenant that can talk in this game. Unfortunately. Because Hot Damn these guys are pissants. Under the command of the elites, the grunts will run away in fear if their commander is downed. The grunts are also pushovers. Meaning one shot or one knock will get them down. To put it simply … these guys are cannon fodder.
Along the game, you come across a new species of enemy known as The Flood.
What? You want to know more about the flood? Fuck you, mang. I’m not gonna reach in to memory lane about these bitches. No!
NO! Let’s move on. Don’t give me that look! We’re moving on!
For a 2001 released game ported to the PC in 2003, Halo looks amazing. It’s got colors! It’s not shit brown or puke green thrown in to the eternal grey, NO, it’s got actual colors! For what I could see when my computer was lagging like mad, the game looked pretty dang okay. After I screwed back the graphical options, it looked meh. Still, it looked really, really good before that. The cut scenes, the in game graphics. Hell yeah! Of course, there are a few graphical glitches here and there and the rag doll death effects can be hilariously fucked up, but all in all it’s okay.
What’s a game without noise. Besides the grunts, I got nothing bad to say about it. The rest of the covenant, the guns, the walking, the vehicles … they all sound great. The Halo music is some of the best music in first person shooters ever, the voices are done as good as possible.
If it just wasn’t for those DAMNED grunts! The first time I heard them, they were HA-larious, but after the fourteen hundredth time they pretty much become annoying little fuckers.
The crown jewel of this game however is its most excellent theme song. There is no denying it that this song belongs in the top ten when it comes to best theme songs of all times. When listening to it on the title screen you immediately feel the epic drama that is about to come. And when in the game, it helps build tension and it also gives you one mean adrenaline rush. This theme song might elevate this game from mediocre to outstanding!
Besides the offline campaign, you can also hook up to the internet for some online fun. Like Counter Strike however, the multiplayer these days is filled with hackers and stuck up server masters that do whatever the hell they want. But, once you do find a solid server, it’s tons of fun. There are a lot of fun maps like the ever so enjoyable Blood Gulch and there’s a few lesser maps. Not too bad maps though because they’re still tons o’ fun to play.
You got several modes to play with like Capture the Flag; All Hail the Flag! It’s so shiny, perfect and wavy!; king of the hill, death match and others. You can also play as a team, which would be either red or blue, or you could go for a free for all. In the custom server creation you can decide which guns and vehicles you can use, which is pretty dang awesome, and more. And there’s a lot of vehicles too like the Puma. Sorry, I meant the Warthog! Silly me. It just looks like a Puma. There’s also a few Covenant vehicles. And a tank.
Right, this has been my Last Gen Review of … Now what? What could it POSSIBLY be what you want know?
Oh … gameplay … right … hehehehehehe
Laughing at me, are we? You’d better run now bitch.
Let’s go over the vehicle controls first. In the PC port of Halo: Combat Evolved, you control the vehicles with the forward button to accelerate and the back button to decelerate and move back. Steering the thing is left up to the mouse. Move your mouse to the left and the vehicle will go to the left. It takes some getting used to, but in the end it’s really cool. If you practice a bit, you could be even more pro than in the Xbox version, especially online. Running someone over has never been so easy. If the enemy player is not up to their eyeballs in cheats that is.
For the rest of the controls, that’s up to you to figure out. Because honestly, I’ve never played it with the game’s own settings. I just map everything to the buttons I’m used to. Plus, I have a mouse with two main buttons, a mouse wheel that’s clickable and two other buttons on the side. I use the upper other button for hitting things, the lower one to switch weapons and the wheel button to zoom. Then I use Keypad 1 to use items, keypad 0 to reload, ctrl to duck, shift to jump and the arrow buttons to move, with left and right being strafing. I’ve also changed the mouse sensitivity one grade slower. And honestly, that’s perfect for me. I’m a lean, mean killing machine like this.
The HUD is quite easy as well. In the lower left you have the radar. It shows friends and enemies. But, only when they’re moving. In the upper right you have your healthbar and your energy shield meter. Your energy shield meter is rechargeable when not taking any damage If your shield is down, every time you get shot, you lose actual HP. HP can be replenished with health packs though, so it’s not like you got one chance. In the upper left you have the ammo bar, the grenade bar and the energy bar for the weapons. Some of the Covenant weapons you see can overheat or can only store so much energy. That bar tells you where you are.
The manmade weaponry are my favorites. Unfortunately, ammo of it is scarce considering the amount of bullets you have to pump in your foes. So the overpowered gun is quickly traded in and you save up ammo on your machine gun for when it counts. Leaving you to play with Covenant guns for the majority of the game. Which are usually pistols of the sort because they don’t have machine guns. Which sucks. Well, unless you count that awful crapfest known as The Needler. It fires needles like a machine gun that lock on to your foe. Works like a charm, except it does diddly squat.
Just don't count on your friendly A.I. partners. They can give you cover, but that's it. For the rest, they're dumbasses. I'm surprised they manage to squeeze the trigger without the Chief's help.
In the end, the entire game is one big adrenaline rush. The music, the action, the pacing, it’s all great. However, beneath it all, Halo is just an average shooter that has a lot of innovative elements. It’s mediocre at best but still it’s an awesome shooter.
On a final note, if you don’t have an Xbox and your interested in Halo, definitely pick it up for the PC. Still no word on Halo 3 for the PC, but for now you can still pick up the first game and Halo 2: Cocktease Cliffhanger Evolved.
This has been Puddle Jumper with a Last Gen Reviews Special, I’ll see you next time
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